I want to resurrect two important but easily overlooked items that were buried in the comments of an old post. The discussion under that post wandered away from the original topic somewhat, and eventually led to the inclusion of two items which I think deserve a post of their own.

The first item was a two-part lecture by D.A. Carson entitled, “On Being Prepared for Evil and Suffering.” The other was a quote by C.H. Spurgeon. These two men articulate, perhaps better than most, the danger of overemphasizing either one of two fundamental truths, usually at the expense of the other: God’s sovereignty, and human responsibility.

That’s not really what Carson’s lectures are about, though. He’s actually examining the problem of suffering and evil in light of the goodness and power of God. If you’ve ever struggled to understand how a good and all-powerful God could allow evil and suffering (a specific branch of theology sometimes called theodicy), I would strongly encourage you to listen to these two messages. They are incredibly good.

In the course of the lecture (and more to the point of this post), Carson briefly discusses the philosophical concept of compatibilism. Compatibilism teaches that the following two propositions are both true and mutually compatible, even if we can’t fully reconcile them:

God is utterly sovereign, but his sovereignty never functions to mitigate human responsibility.

Human beings are morally responsible creatures, but their moral responsibility never functions to make God absolutely contingent.

The other item I wanted to resurrect, from the same comment thread, was a quote by Charles Spurgeon. Without ever using the term compatibilism, Spurgeon often made precisely the same point Carson does. Here is part of the excerpt that I quoted from one of Spurgeon’s sermons,

That God predestines, and that man is responsible, are two things that few can see. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory; but they are not. It is just the fault of our weak judgment. Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other.

If, then, I find taught in one place that everything is fore-ordained, that is true; and if I find in another place that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true; and it is my folly that leads me to imagine that two truths can ever contradict each other.

These two truths, I do not believe, can ever be welded into one upon any human anvil, but one they shall be in eternity: they are two lines that are so nearly parallel, that the mind that shall pursue them farthest, will never discover that they converge; but they do converge, and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the throne of God, whence all truth doth spring.”

You can read the whole sermon here if you’d like. In conclusion, I think it’s hard for most of us to preserve this biblical tension, but essential that we try. A failure to do so inevitably leads to some distortion of the truth, and results in a lot of unnecessary controversy. Just ask Charles Spurgeon.

Compatabilism is one of my favorite doctrines, because it is comforting on so many levels; to be able to see that God does not contradict Himself in His Word, or in history; to be able to see that God’s purposes are thwarted by nothing man can think, or will, or do. It’s just a wondrous thing to think even the devil in his rebellion ultimately serves God’s good purposes. (Acts 2:23 is an amazing example.) How else could we be more than conquerors? Surely nothing can snatch us from the hands of such a God.

Sorry for getting a bit carried away. At the end of a rough day, it’s good to meditate upon this very thing.

This doctrine is disagreeable to many, mainly because it requires humility to embrace. By declaring it, we admit that we aren’t smart enough, or enlightened enough, to grasp the depths of God’s wisdom (why does that bother us so much?). By holding to this doctrine, we necessarily exalt God and abase ourselves. I’ve discovered that a person with strong intellectual pride cannot – WILL NOT – be convinced about this. All the arguments in the world will not convince, even if the person knows the Bible inside out. Yet humble, godly men like Spurgeon, Carson, MacArthur, Piper, Mahaney and many others have served us well by affirming this doctrine. Whenever my Calvinism gets too high, compatibilism sets it right again. And whenever my Calvinism gets too low, compatibilism provides the needed adjustment. And all the while it leaves me speechless and mystified before the sovereign and holy God. Compatibilism fuels worship!

In my previous comment, I said people with strong intellectual pride cannot accept this doctrine. To balance out that comment, I have to admit that I haven’t got intellectual pride beat just because I hold to compatibilism – it still crops up. And there are plenty of other – perhaps worse – kinds of pride to struggle with also. Still, for me, compatibilism has been used of God to cut through some of that pride.